My experience with dating apps was better than I expected, with one caveat.
Before you commit to dating apps, set your radius tight first and widen it only if it goes quiet.
The deciding detail with dating apps was how many people within reach were active that week.
The variable nobody controls for with dating apps is your age bracket relative to the local pool.
What changed my mind on dating apps was how much personal data the signup demanded.
With dating apps it came down to how the platform handled blocking and reporting, honestly.
With dating apps the thing that decided it for me was how the moderation handled obvious spam.
Not the last word on best dating apps for older people who are widowed by any means.
For what it is worth I have had better luck on Souldate — souldate.site than on any of the big paid apps.